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November 20, 2008

Newsweek: The Somali pirates’ advantage

The pirates will start negotiations with a demand for an outrageously high amount of money. If you take a look at the MV Faina [a hijacked Ukrainian ship carrying 33 Soviet-made tanks], the pirates originally demanded $35 million. That was at the end of September, and they’re now down to $8 million, which is still quite a hefty amount for such a ship—the usual ransom amount is $2 million. For the Sirius Star I think they will try to get as much out of it as possible. However, the ship is quite dangerous for them. It’s far too big. Navigational errors could happen, and you could have a disastrous oil spill damaging the whole coast of Somalia with the 2 million barrels aboard. I’m not really sure that the pirates were well advised to attack such a huge ship.

US Seeking Better, More Comprehensive Anti-Piracy Approach

The Pentagon spokesman says senior U.S. officials are looking for better ways to address the piracy off the east coast of Africa. But he says the problem needs a broader approach, perhaps involving military tactics but also government policies, international agreements and action by shipping companies. VOA’s Catherine Cannon reports from the Pentagon.

Somali pirates seize ninth vessel in 12 days

The battle with pirates operating off the coast of Somalia grew yesterday when raiders seized two more ships but lost one of their own in an uneven firefight with the Indian Navy. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) described the situation yesterday as “out of control”.

The surge in hijackings came as Saudi Arabia confirmed that a ransom demand had been made for the freeing of the Sirius Star supertanker, seized at the weekend with her crew of 25 and a cargo of oil worth $100 million (£65 million).

RSS msnbc.com: Politics

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